I Became The Tyrant Of A Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 743

Cromwell was moving forward.

‘Huh…’

She crawled, her swollen arms acting as makeshift front legs, when she noticed a trail of ants crushed beneath her tree-trunk-like hand. She stared blankly, thinking.

‘Where am I going?’

Fragments of her shattered thoughts slowly tangled and pieced themselves together.

‘Ah, right.’

To Crossroads.

She was heading to the entrance of the Inse [a term likely referring to a specific location or structure within the story’s world].

‘……Why?’

Why was she going there?

‘To… destroy the Inse.’

Why did she have to destroy the Inse?

‘Because that’s the last mission I received.’

Why did she have to carry out the mission?

‘Because… that’s how we can protect our legion’s honor.’

Our legion…?

‘The great demon race… we left our distant homeland to conquer all dimensions…’

When her thoughts reached this point.

Cromwell became puzzled.

‘Homeland…?’

Where was that?

She couldn’t remember properly…

Cromwell had no memories of her homeland. She had left it at such a young age that she didn’t have much attachment to her country or her race.

However, she liked the stories the elder told about their homeland.

Stories like legends about the distant and great home star system of the demons, where they made roads by gathering the Milky Way and lit up cities by gathering the suns…

‘Elder?’

Cromwell’s slow but relentless steps suddenly stopped.

‘Who was that…?’

Very slowly, the face of an old demon surfaced in her mind.

‘Ah, Father…’

Thump…

Cromwell’s steps completely halted.

The zombie monster legion that had been following her also stopped in their tracks.

‘Listen, Father. I really worked hard.’

Cromwell opened her mouth to speak, but,

《Kuaaa, aah, aaaaaah…》

Her vocal cords had already mutated into a structure that could not produce language.

But, unaware of this, Cromwell continued to speak.

To the figure of an old demon, flickering like a phantom before her, whom she had followed like her father in her childhood.

‘I became a legion commander as you said, made an alliance with the Demon King, and tried to lead our legion well.’

‘But, I failed. I was entrusted with the Demon King’s regency, but I was defeated miserably. The royal castle was captured, and I was chewed to pieces by the Black Dragon.’

‘I wanted to do well, I did my best… I wanted to become a good legion commander and lead our legion wonderfully.’

‘This was the only path for me, but I completely ruined it.’

From the time she became aware of her own existence, when she was very young.

Cromwell was educated and raised as a legion commander. She grew up with expectations from everyone around her.

– Your Excellency is full of talent, you will become a great legion commander.

– Please lead our legion to victory.

– Your Excellency will succeed. We all believe so.

But, however.

No one told her.

What to do after a defeat, not a victory. What to do after a failure, not a success.

After receiving a wound so great that her heart was shattered…

How to overcome that wound and rise again.

‘Help me, Father. Please comfort me.’

‘I can’t breathe. I feel like I’m going to die.’

Cromwell cried out to the phantom of the elder who said nothing.

‘Why are you just watching? Is it because I didn’t meet your expectations?’

‘Do you think I wanted to fail? Do you think I wanted to ruin our legion!’

‘But what can I do when this is how it turned out even though I did my best…’

‘Please, tell me… after a failure, after a defeat, what am I supposed to do?’

Cromwell reached out her hand, crying out to the elder who still didn’t answer-

Crack!

Crunch, crunch! Splatter…!

The next moment, the elder’s phantom turned into a lump of meat.

Only then, belatedly, did Cromwell realize the taste of blood and flesh remaining in her mouth.

‘Ah…’

She stared blankly at the traces of the elder that had disappeared, leaving only blood on the floor.

Then, Cromwell slowly raised her head and looked around.

‘Where is everyone?’

Then, the image of the abandoned cathedral from a few days ago slowly surfaced in her mind.

Cromwell slowly recalled that she had eaten every last one of her comrades.

Like a recorded video playing in reverse…

The scattered pieces of flesh, bones, and entrails that had been torn apart and entered her mouth all came out, gathered together, and transformed into the figures of her legion members.

And they all looked at Cromwell with empty black eyes, opening their black mouths and said.

– This is the last chance we obtained by sacrificing our lives, Commander.

– We must destroy the Inse.

– This time, we must succeed no matter what.

A slow smile spread across Cromwell’s blank face.

‘Ah, I see.’

There is nothing after failure. Once you are defeated, you simply die.

This time, thankfully, she had been resurrected by sacrificing all of her comrades’ lives, so…

‘Now, all I have to do is succeed.’

Yes.

That previous defeat was ‘invalid’. ‘Void’. Hadn’t she been resurrected like this, as if to show off?

Capture Crossroads and destroy the Inse. If she starts succeeding again, that’s all there is to it.

Raise the honor of the race, and rebuild the Cromwell Legion…

Rebuild…?

《Kuaaaaaaa-!》

Cromwell, roaring fiercely, began to take steps again.

The monster, unable to accept the defeat she had already experienced, chose the path of resurrection as a corpse and roared as she ran forward.

To never fail again.

To destroy the Inse before her eyes.

***

《Kuaaaaaaa-!》

At the head of the zombie monster legion.

Cromwell, transformed into a giant reindeer-like form, stopped for a moment, then let out a terrifying roar.

Thump-! Thump-! Thump-!

Her massive body rushed forward in an instant, followed by the zombie legion. The mountains and forests trembled in response to their advance.

Watching this, I stretched out my arm and shouted.

“Activate the ‘Wall’-”

The new wall of Crossroads, which we had been preparing since the Black Dragon battle, was about to reveal itself.

Whirr-!

At the same time as my command was given, magic rails were laid along the guide wires installed in front of the southern wall of Crossroads.

The Iron Horse Legion we had previously defeated.

Using their magic cores and parts, we had imitated their movement system and created a magic railway that could have its path changed each time.

And along this railway…

Clank! Clank! Clank-!

Nine magic trains that had been on standby appeared.

They were simple in form, more like long carts with wheels than trains, and each car had a black magic core installed.

The nine trains, lined up in a row as if surrounding the outside of the southern wall, separated from each other and aligned at regular intervals.

Lily, confirming that the trains were in position, shouted.

“‘Wall’ activation ready, deploying-!”

The next moment.

Clunk…!

The nine magic cores installed in each train simultaneously floated into the air.

All nine magic cores floating in the air flickered with a sinister beauty, especially the central magic core, which was large and massive.

Looking at the ominous black light emanating from the magic core, I smiled bitterly. Well, it was bound to stand out.

The central magic core was the EX-grade Dragon Heart obtained from Night Bringer.

The other eight magic cores were also SSR-grade magic cores obtained from Night Bringer!

Whirr…!

As the nine magic cores resonated with each other and emitted magic around them, they began to assemble the ‘parts’ loaded inside the trains in an instant.

The keel formed the skeleton, and dragon scales densely covered it.

In the blink of an eye, the assembly was completed according to the design, and finally, the nine magic cores poured magic like ink onto this massive structure, filling the gaps and solidifying the framework.

The explanation was long, but the actual installation time was only a few tens of seconds.

Thump…!

When I came to my senses, a newly built black wall had appeared in front of the southern wall of Crossroads.

“……”

I smiled with satisfaction in front of the soldiers who were gaping in shock.

A complex piece of equipment and artifact built by concentrating the maximum capacity of the World Guardian Front.

The first-ever mobile fortress. Its name is.

“[Knight Bringer]!”

It means a guide (Bringer) that carries a knight (Knight)… but it’s a bit of a forced name. Honestly, it’s a name I made with the intention of teasing that Black Dragon bastard!

I poured in the magic cores of the Iron Horse King and the materials of his legion to create the movement system.

I poured in the magic cores of the Wraith King and the materials of his legion to implement the combination and separation system.

And on top of that, I poured in all the magic cores and materials I got from Night Bringer.

It was made with the materials of three legions. It was even a product of a crazy material feast where I poured in almost the entire Black Dragon.

‘I had only thought about this form since I saw that the New Terra’s wall had a previous installation option…’

The perfect monster legions appeared one after another, making actual implementation possible.

Clack! Clack! Clack!

The soldiers orderly ascended onto the strongest wall ever built, which was beautifully installed.

This wall, which is a magical artifact in itself, is unparalleled in terms of defensive power, but it consumes a lot of magic just by being activated.

Of course, Crossroads is a magic stone producing area, so it’s easy to consume magic, but it’s still more resource-efficient to deploy it just before the battle if possible.

“But, Your Highness.”

Lily, who had been working all night to adjust this Black Dragon wall until just yesterday, asked with a tired face.

“Wouldn’t it have been enough to just build a wall in front of Crossroads with these materials? Was there a reason to put the combination, separation, transformation, and movement system into the wall like this?”

Then, Kellybay, who was looking at the wall with an impressed face, shouted in response.

“Because… it’s cool!”

“……”

“That Ash is a genius. How could he think of making such an amazing mobile fortress? He knows romance. Romance.”

Lily’s eyes narrowed. No, that’s Kellybay’s opinion. Of course, being cool is good too.

‘Because it’s a wall that can move, separate, and combine, it has the advantage of being able to be installed anywhere.’

In other words, if you install the wall forward, that place becomes a forward base.

Even if you send only three trains, you can install a small base.

From the Black Lake to this Crossroads, it is possible to create a forward base at a strategic point, dismantle it, and retreat.

This time, it was completed just barely, so we couldn’t deploy it forward, but after this… from Stage 46 to the final battle in Stage 50, we will be able to use it flexibly.

Lily, after listening to my explanation, nodded and looked at the approaching zombie monster legion.

“Everyone on the front lines worked hard to make it, so I hope it will hold up well in the remaining battles.”

“It will hold up well.”

The blood, sweat, and tears of the people who went into making this grand gimmick wall are amazing.

And on top of that…

‘Night Bringer, that bastard… even though he was an enemy.’

He was ridiculously strong!

And this wall, which has been ground down from his head to his toes, is also ‘strong’!

Whirring…!

Inside the wall, the nine magic cores resonated and emitted the sound of the artifact operating.

The black wall, which was a defensive artifact in itself, rippled with magic as it prepared for defense…

Groooaaan!